White Supremacist Funding Keeps Schools Lily-White and Immigrant-Free

Ever heard of the Council of Conservative Citizens? They're a White Supremacist group that believes "the American people and government should remain European in the composition and character," and that in order to ensure this, even "legal" immigration "must be severely restricted or halted." Not convinced of their "white supremacist" status yet? "We also oppose all efforts to mix the races of mankind," says their statement of "principles."

Easy enough to dismiss these folks as a bunch of  lunatics taking out their life woes on dark-skinned boogeymen of their own creation. But what if I told you that this group was having a marked influence on the education of young Americans?

As Education Editor Carol Scott covered earlier this week, the Council of Conservative Citizens (CCC), with all its racist and anti-immigrant "values," is pouring money into two Mississippi schools. Worse? Caroll and Calhoun Academies are accepting the money with open arms, completely unruffled by their funder's politics of hate.

Not surprisingly, Caroll and Calhoun Academies have a whopping 5 non-white students — combined. As reported by the Southern Poverty Law Center, these schools' demographics match the so-called values of the CCC. Everyone who has had a lick of U.S. history is familiar with the Supreme Court's 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision which ruled that "separate is not equal" and desegregated U.S. public schools. Once U.S. schools were desegregated, plenty a white family opted for private education in institutions where the student body could remain white, thus creating a demand for "segregation academies" like Caroll and Calhoun that sprung up around the country (and particularly in the South).

Fewer people are familiar, however, with another landmark decision: the 9th Circuit's 1946 Mendez v. Westminster ruling which determined the unconstitutionality of separate schools for immigrant students. These two cases did the same important thing: ensured equal access of all students, regardless of race or home language or creed, to educational opportunities (something the CCC apparently scoffs at.)

Barring undocumented immigrants from our education system is something people have tried (and failed) to accomplish in the past (see the 1982 Plyer vs. Doe ruling). But according to the politics of the CCC, even documented immigrants, even U.S. citizens with accents and dark skin, aren't welcome in the U.S. — let alone in the schools the CCC funds. Separate may not be equal under U.S. law, but it seems to be these Mississippi schools' bread and butter.

Caroll and Calhoun Academies are using hate-money to fund the education of their children in an atmosphere of discrimination (or, as a CCC staff person and former headmaster of Caroll academy would call it, an atmosphere "free of social experiments"). Sign this petition to tell the Mississippi Association of Independent Schools to withdraw funding and accreditation from schools funded by white supremacist dollars.

Photo Credit: U.S. Federal Government